


i will love him unconditionally (i thank god he's mine)

by jcp_sob_rjl_lmep



Series: every last bit of my old man's son [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Bruce Wayne is a Good Grandparent, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Family Fluff, Gen, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27736816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcp_sob_rjl_lmep/pseuds/jcp_sob_rjl_lmep
Summary: Bruce absconded with Tage about three seconds after Jason walked in the front door. Jason was left standing there, his arms still in the air as if he were still cradling his son.“I see how it is!” He called after his father, mostly joking. “Now that I’ve got a kid, he’s all that’s important. No, I get it.”Bruce turned around and came back, hugging Jason and squishing Tage between them until the little boy was giggling and squirming. Dramatically, Bruce said, “Oh, Jason, my second born, darling boy, how I miss you when you’re gone, Jaylad,” until Jason laughed and pushed him away.
Relationships: Duke Thomas & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Series: every last bit of my old man's son [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1338274
Comments: 27
Kudos: 183





	i will love him unconditionally (i thank god he's mine)

Bruce absconded with Tage about three seconds after Jason walked in the front door. Jason was left standing there, his arms still in the air as if he were still cradling his son.

“I see how it is!” He called after his father, mostly joking. “Now that I’ve got a kid, he’s all that’s important. No, I get it.”

Bruce turned around and came back, hugging Jason and squishing Tage between them until the little boy was giggling and squirming. Dramatically, Bruce said, “Oh, Jason, my second born, darling boy, how I miss you when you’re gone, Jaylad,” until Jason laughed and pushed him away.

“Okay, okay, geroff,” Jason protested, shoving Bruce’s face away as his father planted kisses on his forehead.

“You made it!” Dick called from atop the staircase. Bruce’s eyes widened, and, still clutching a laughing Tage, he skirted around Jason and made his quick way out of the front door. “Hey - I have been on a deep space mission for a _month_ , Dad, it’s my turn with the baby!”

As he sprinted past Jason, he skidded to a slight stop, long enough to kiss Jason’s head in greeting, and then he was outside as well, still yelling after Bruce. Jason wiped off the remains and shut the door, taking the food he’d brought to the kitchen.

Inside he found Alfred, of course, working diligently over a feast for the family, as well as Duke, who was sitting at the island wearing headphones and working away on something, scribbling notes with narrowed eyes.

“Hey, Alfie,” He called in greeting, and Alfred pulled the thermometer out of the turkey, pushing it back into the oven and shutting the door before straightening to his full height with a greeting smile.

“Master Jason, we weren’t sure when you would arrive,” He said, patting Jason’s back as Jason gave him a quick hug before pulling away to set his goods down. Duke didn’t take off his headphones or say hello, simply holding out a fist in Jason’s direction; Jason pounded it, Duke made a little explosion noise, and he went back to his work.

Jason glanced outside just in time to see Tim pluck Tage away and run, now with both Bruce and Dick on his tail; rolling his eyes, he turned back to Alfred.

“Sorry Alfred, I wasn’t sure how long the baking would take and I wanted to get it done before we got here so it wouldn’t need any oven space.”

“Thank you for the consideration, Master Jason, but we do have multiple ovens here if you needed them,” Alfred turned to the dish of stuffing, tasting it and adding in more seasoning.

“I just wasn’t sure.” Jason shrugged. Okay, so maybe this was his first Thanksgiving back with the family - Tage’s first big holiday in this style. Maybe he was nervous. You couldn’t get him to say it with a gun to his head. “What if someone else had been making something?”

At that statement, Alfred was so incredulous that he turned to Jason, raising an eyebrow. Jason considered the rest of their family, running down a list of members.

“Right, yeah, okay. None of them would be making anything. Next year we’ll just come in the morning and get it ready here, okay?” Jason acquiesced.

Alfred gave a sharp pleased nod. “Very good, sir.”

“Don’t call me sir,” Jason grumbled, turning away from Alfred and putting his attention on his newest little brother. Walking over, he put his arm over Duke’s shoulders, knocking the headphones to his neck and leaning down. “Whatcha workin’ on, kid?”

“Paper,” Duke sighed, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to shift Jason’s arm off. Jason smirked when it didn’t work, increasing the pressure on his brother. Duke’s nose wrinkled, attempting to continue sitting straight, when-

“Master Jason,” Alfred warned without even looking back at them. Sheepishly, Jason sat on the stool next to Duke, letting up on his teasing.

“What kind of paper?”

“History paper. It has to be twice as long as everyone else’s because I turned the last one in late.” Duke rolled his eyes, scribbling down another note.

“You taking Matthews?” Jason asked. Duke nodded, but before Jason could continue, Dick leaned his head in through the open kitchen window.

“Don’t listen to a word he says about Matthews, Duke, he was her favorite student and he knows it!” He pulled his head back with a laughed yelp as Alfred swatted in his direction, running off again. At the edge of the woods, Jason could spot Damian, Tim, and Bruce all crouched down around something, Tage perched on his grandfather’s large back.

“Ugh, I need, like, twelve sources,” Duke complained, putting down his pencil for a moment to rub at his hand.

“How many do you have?” Jason asked, leaning in to read over what was already written. Duke had very neat handwriting, something that Jason was sure Bruce appreciated - Dick, Jason, Tim, and Cass were all messy writers (although Tim had different handwriting when he needed to be serious), and Duke and Damian were like breaths of fresh air for their father.

“Two,” Duke abandoned all propriety, laying his head directly on the counter. Jason laughed, nudging at his brother until the boy sat up again.

“Okay, listen, first, you need an outline,” He said, gathering up the sheets of paper and setting them to the side, leaving a fresh sheet out.

“What do you know?” Duke grumbled, nevertheless beginning his skeleton.

“Master Jason used to stay in from patrol to finish his homework,” Alfred said, stirring a pot on the stove.

“Seriously?” Duke turned to Jason, grinning when his older brother nodded in confirmation. “Wow, you _are_ a nerd.”

“I’ll show you a nerd-” Jason started, freezing in place when Alfred cleared his throat. Subdued, he continued, “Later. C’mon, let’s work on this.”

They worked for a couple of hours; when Alfred could pull himself away for a moment, he offered suggestions and corrected grammar. Finally, everyone who had been outside tramped in, covered in mud, and were promptly tramped back out, with the exception of Tage as Aunt Cass swooped in, took him from Bruce, and disappeared back upstairs.

“There are showers by the pool or you can hose yourselves off and come inside,” Alfred said, merciless in his domain. “There will be no mud in my kitchen today, not if you all wish to eat at a normal hour.”

By the time Duke turned back to his work, Jason was tidying it up, stacking everything together. Luckily, they’d finished the outline; he would just have to write the paper by Monday.

“Hey!” He protested, trying to grab for his things. Jason held them above his head without even trying, pushing Duke back down.

“Duke. Kid. We’ve been working on this for hours. Take the rest of the day off.”

“Alfred!” Duke entreated.

“Master Duke,” Alfred began, and Duke could tell from his tone that Alfred was going to side with Jason. “You’ve been sitting at the island since breakfast, and whilst I do, of course, enjoy your company, the paper is not due until Monday and it’s high time you took a break.”

“Fine,” Duke tried to scowl, but he was starting to ache from sitting for so long, and it really did feel like a good time to stop for the day. “Jason, give me the papers, I’ll take them to my room.”

“If I come upstairs and find you working, I’m gonna beat you up,” His brother said flatly, handing the papers over. Duke escaped the kitchen just as Alfred began to scold Jason.

By the time he’d finished putting his things away in his room, he’d heard the footsteps in the hallway indicating that his errant family members had managed to make it inside and likely change their clothes; he headed down to the theatre (which was still insane, by the way, having a movie theatre in his house, even if it was apparently a ‘mini’ one), seeing that the green light was on outside the door, indicating it was in use.

Sure enough, his older sister’s form was curled on one of the seats close to the screen; as he made his way closer, he could see her eyes were closed, and she was curled because she was holding Tage, the little boy so deep in his nap that his breath whistled with little snores. His cheeks were still flushed with excitement, and his hair was sweaty, although there were no traces of mud on him and he wore different clothes.

“Good thing about having a big family that constantly spoils your kid,” Jason said dryly behind him, huffing in amusement when Duke startled. “Even if I don’t bring any of his stuff with us, there’s a full wardrobe of clothes just waiting here for him to wear them.”

“Warm,” Cass told Jason, a bit of worry in her voice, but Jason smiled, reaching to brush a bit of hair out of his son’s face.

“He just got in from playing outside, Cassie, he’s still excited. Plus, he’s a boy, and he’s sleeping, and those both cause him to run a little warmer. If he stays warm we can be worried, but I think he’ll be fine.”

With that reassurance, Cass relaxed, holding Tage secure as she turned her attention back to the screen.

“Dinner’s going to be done in about an hour, the others are going to watch the rest of the football game before we eat. I’ll come to get him in half an hour so he’ll be awake enough to eat when it’s time.”

True to his word, Jason collected Tage from Duke and Cass, taking him up to the nursery room that had been set up between Jason and Tim’s rooms. Tage whined sleepily, unhappy to be forced awake, and Jason laughed and cooed, changing his diaper and deciding that it would be okay for him to stay in the pajamas Cass had dressed him in.

“I know, baby boy,” Jason soothed, wiping an eyelash off of Tage’s ruddied cheek. “Daddy’s so mean, making you wake up before you wanted to wake up.”

Tage’s teal eyes widened in a pout, but Jason was undeterred, taking him back downstairs just in time for everyone to head to the dining room. Unimpressed that he was getting nowhere with Jason, he reached out for “Papa ‘uce”, who took him with a smile. Of course, none of his family members intended on letting him go back to sleep, but mostly he babbled out complaints to Bruce, who nodded very seriously every time Tage looked for a reaction.

Dick had tried to tease Bruce about being called “uce” only once; Tage had called him “Unca Ick” and Jason had laughed until he cried.

Most of the food was already set out on the table, and the last of it was being brought out by Tim and Damian, Alfred following behind them. Everyone took their seats - Bruce at one end of the table, Tage in a highchair between Bruce and Jason, then Tim, Steph, and Cass; Dick, Babs, Duke, and Damian sat across from them, and Alfred across from Bruce, at the other end of the table.

“Hope I’m not too late,” A familiar voice came from the hallway, and Jim Gordon came into view, softer than they usually saw him. Tonight he was family, not colleague, and there was a space laid for him between Babs and Duke.

They went around the table and said what they were thankful for; everyone ignored any extra emotions, like how rough Jason’s voice was when he said he was thankful for this, for days and family like this, or how bright Bruce’s eyes were when he pronounced himself thankful for his children and their own, holding back the tears with sheer power of will.

Finally, it came time to eat, and Bruce cut up some things for Tage as Jason and his son prayed quietly; he mouthed along but didn’t speak the words. The night passed in moments of laughter and for once, no fighting, which was indeed a miracle. Even Damian was content, though it was probably helped by the fact that he was separated from Tim.

Later that night, before going to sleep, Bruce slipped into the nursery and listened to his grandson breathe. Jason had been convinced to spend the night, and patrol had been short and easy - another miracle.

“Goodnight, Tage,” He murmured, reaching one broad hand down and brushing it through baby fine curls. Tage curled into the touch with a happy little noise, and the love welled up in Bruce’s chest once more. “Papa loves you, sweet boy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Don't check the calendar, it's definitely still Thanksgiving. If you don't celebrate, I hope that you had a very good day and that this bit of fluff made you even happier.  
> This fills my 'Thanksgiving' square on my Batman Bingo 2020 card if you're not tired of me saying the word 'Thanksgiving' yet. As always, a link to the full card is available in the Bingo series.  
> Downloads are fine but please don't post this anywhere else without my permission.  
> Feel free to come catch me on [tumblr](https://iwillstaywiththemforever.tumblr.com).  
> Love you all and I will see you later!


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